Growth Performance and Meat Quality of Purebred and Crossbred Berkshire Pigs Raised in Alternative Production Syste

Researchers are trying to discover ways to naturally improve the growth rate of pigs in an outdoor environment while maintaining desirable meat quality. One aspect that is being explored to solve this issue is genetics. The growth performance of pigs as well as their meat quality has shown to vary among different breeds. Berkshire pigs in particular are known for their meat quality traits that consumers look for when selecting pork, but they are not the fastest growing pigs. It is hypothesized that crossbreeding experiments can improve the growth performance of Berkshire pigs while maintaining their high-quality meat. The objective of this study was to compare the growth rate and meat quality of Berkshire purebred pigs to the crossbred pigs with Berkshire sows sired by Hereford and Tamworth boars. Berkshire sows raised outdoors were artificially inseminated with semen from either Berkshire, Hereford, or Tamworth boars and housed in individual units prior to farrowing. The piglets were weaned at 4 weeks and raised in a hoop structure where they were weighed every 4 weeks. Once they reached market weight, they were sent to the processing plant to be slaughtered and their meat was scored. SAS University edition was used to analyze the data. There were significant differences beginning at 12 weeks. At 12 weeks, the crossbred pigs (HB and TB) weighed 8.91kg more than the purebreds (BB). At 16 weeks, TB weighed 6.14kg more than HB, and HB weighed 8.90kg more than BB. At 20 weeks, TB weighed 13.06kg more than HB, and HB weighed 9.07kg more than BB. Significance level was at 5%. For the meat quality results, there were minimal significant differences among breed. There were significant differences noted for sex groups. It's concluded that crossbred pigs have a higher growth rate than purebreds but have the same meat quality. This study was conducted under NC A&T University policies with IACUC approval.